A Photo For Your Thoughts
by kashimmas
Summary: Katie Gardner was what one would call average. She gardened and took photos to pass the time. Boring? Kinda. So when her best friend puts together a plan to get them to the top of the food chain―to be popular, she asked herself; "why not?" If only being popular didn't mean having to talk to Travis Stoll.


**Hello! Uh, so this is my first story using my remade account and I am super excited about it. It's not an anime fanfic, though, since all my anime fics will be posted a little later. But it is a Percy Jackson fic (obviously) that I've been wanting to finish for a while now. So, yeah. Here you go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO because if I did, guys, c'mon, ****_Tratie_****.**

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><p><strong>chapter one<strong>

_Click_.

I looked down at the camera in my hands; at the picture on the small screen. I furrowed my eyebrows and frowned as I saw the image. The lighting was really bad from this angle... I got up from my place on the ground and moved to the area where the light seemed good enough. I raised my camera, ready to capture the perfect photo of the small patch of flowers I had found by the bleachers of the football field. The bleachers cast shadows across the ground where the plant was but from this angle, they were barely noticeable. I bit my bottom lip and brought the camera higher so that it was eye level with me.

_ Three..._

_ Two..._

_ O—_

"Katie!"

"Dammit!" I was shocked out of my kneeling position, falling backwards into the grass. I groaned as I felt a small rock jab into my back. I quickly sat up and tried to get the small blades of grass off my shirt.

I looked up at the giggling blonde standing above me. "What do you want, Kayla?" I asked warily, but it came out sounding more like an exasperated statement rather than an inquiry.

Kayla (the aforementioned blonde) pouted a little in reply. "C'mon, Kates," she said with a roll of her eyes. "You didn't actually forget about our plans for today, did you?" She looked at me expectantly with bright blue eyes.

Kayla Solace had been my best friend since we were in diapers. We did pretty much everything together. We took our first steps together (though Kayla claims that she learned how to walk first), had our ballet recital together, played on the seesaw together, ate together, cried together. We were inseparable. Sadly.

At first, I wasn't sure about what _plans_ she was talking about. And then I remembered what we had been going on and on about for the past few weeks. _Oh, _those _plans_. "You can't make me," I said stubbornly, crossing my arms over my chest. She was dead wrong if she thought I was going through with this scheme of hers. Well, willingly. Said girl, however, would have none of it. She grabbed my wrist and tugged me up to my feet. I fumbled to keep my camera balanced in my hand before glaring at the girl who was still holding my wrist. It didn't seem like she would be letting go any time soon.

She flashed me a bright smile before tugging me forward again. "Lets go!" I groaned and begrudgingly followed her to the yellow car parked up front.

I should probably explain my situation as of the moment. Well, you see, Kayla and I aren't special. No, not at all. If you asked a few people if they knew us, majority of them would probably say that they didn't. I don't blame them though. It's not like anything I did would make me stand out... right?

But I got tired of being overlooked. I mean, I was totally fine with being the way I was now but one can only take so much. So when Kayla—the girl who actually had a shot at popularity but totally turned it down (for me; she's such a good friend)—offered me a chance to get us to the top of the food chain...

Who was I to say no?

Unfortunately, the plans that she put together were all painful and tiring.

Today's mission?

Makeover.

As soon as she had suggested getting new hairstyles and buying new clothes, I had flat out said no. I was desperate, but not that desperate, thank you very much. But since my best friend and I share everything, and that included stubbornness, neither of us would budge.

That is, until she offered to buy me a new SD card with 32 gigabytes. Curse you, easily swayed will.

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><p>"Katie! You look amazing!"<p>

I rolled my eyes at the squealing and jumping seventeen year old girl. Notice how I emphasized her age.

She took a deep breath, as if trying to compose herself. When she settled down a bit, albeit still grinning, she looked carefully at me. "Katie, seriously though. Were you always this... hot?" she gushed.

I rolled my eyes, feeling my face warm up a bit. "I mean, seriously," Kayla continued, "I'd totally go gay for you right now."

Seeing the opportunity for a little teasing, I took the chance. "Yeah, you would," I said. "That is, if you weren't in love with Malcolm Chase, right?"

Kayla let out a soft puff and glared at me. "I am _not _in love with Malcolm Chase." Being the amazing best friend I was, I could easily tell she was lying. She was head over heels for that guy. Well, maybe not "love" but more on extreme admiration...? Huh. It was bordering the lines of that and love.

Malcolm Chase was a guy in our year who we used to hang out with in middle school. Kayla, of course, had this huge crush on the gray eyed blonde and has managed to keep it for... what, five years? Wow, my best friend sure is persistent.

But, yeah. She's in a stage of denial as of the moment.

"Yeah, yeah," I decided to say. Arguing about this now would get us no where with this stupid plan. Besides, I would have plenty of other opportunities to tease my BFF a little.

I tugged at the collar of the blouse (it was itchy!). "Can I take this off now, please?" My other hand moved to the bottom of the shorts I was wearing. They were too short for my liking so I tried pulling them down as much as I could without showing anything off.

The blonde gave me an incredulous look. "What are you talking about, Kates? You're wearing this for the rest of the day! It's a Friday, we're at the mall, there are students from Goode _everywhere_! What better opportunity do we have to show off and climb the social ladder?"

I paled considerably. "You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding," I begged. I would die if I had to parade around the mall in these. I tugged at the green blouse again.

"Nope," Kayla popped. "We're gonna do this!" She cheered to herself while I glared at her.

"Easy for you to say!" I argued. "You look gorgeous!" And she did. Kayla could make almost anything look good (except maybe those nurse shoes the cheerleaders had). And right now, she was rocking the whole Californian girl look.

"You look great too," she said with a roll of her eyes. I groaned before picking up my bag and hanging my camera strap around my neck, supporting the camera itself in my unoccupied hand. "Just shut up." I walked towards the counter and took out my wallet.

The lady at the counter smiled at me. "Those clothes suit you very well," she said. "Will you be wearing them out?" I nodded and she scanned my clothes properly for what I was wearing and typed something on the computer beside her. She asked me for roughly fifty dollars and I handed them to her. I was finished purchasing the outfit by the time Kayla came up to me.

"You could've at least waited for me," she huffed and payed for her own clothes.

"Could've," I repeated as we walked out of the store. I looked around and furrowed my eyebrows. "What are we going to do now?"

Kayla shrugged before walking forward. "Walk around, I guess? Maybe get some crepes at that new place that opened at the third floor." She shrugged again. "Show off."

I frowned. "Do you really think this'll work? I mean, are people really that shallow?"

Kayla mirrored my expression. "What do you mean?" She thought for a moment before understanding what I was saying. "I don't know. But this makeover isn't just to get people to see us, but I guess it's also to boost our confidence a bit? Look, don't you feel good right now?" She turned to me and flashed a smile.

_ No. Not at all. I feel like I'm being judged right now._ But I couldn't say that. I couldn't because it was probably a lie. I did feel nice at the moment. It felt good wearing pretty clothes. I think.

Kayla smirked. "Kates, don't answer that. Your expressions tells me everything." I slapped her arm, a little harder than necessary, causing her to let out a yelp. "Hey!"

I just continued walking with a smile on my face.

"So... Crepes?"

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><p>"These are really good."<p>

I couldn't do anything but nod in reply. The thin pancake was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. I was practically drowning in the sensation of the delectable treat.

"I want to marry this crepe," Kayla continued and I nodded again. Words could not justify the deliciousness of the dessert.

We were walking as we ate our crepes. Showing off was kind of working for us, but not too much. In the past hour, two guys (two _hot _guys) came up to us, three girls complimented our looks and this old lady told us that she used to look young and "sexy" (cue the shuddering) once and that all the boys would chase after her (cue more shuddering).

As I was halfway through eating the crepe, I decided that I didn't have enough. I turned to my friend who was indulging in the delicacy. "Hey, Kayles, do you think we could—." I stopped short as someone ran into me, or I ran into them. We ran into each other. I don't know.

But what I did know was that Kayla was laughing really hard, I was on the floor, my elbow hurt like hell and...

_My crepe was splattered on the ground. _

I whipped my head up to glare at the person who had caused me and my beloved crepe to fall to the ground. I was going to kill whoever did this. The poor soul better watch out because Katie Gardner was not happy at all.

"What the f—!" I started to say but was interrupted by Kayla's abrupt silence, sharp intake of breath and her hand quickly covering my mouth. Without a warning, she pulled me up to my feet and I yelped as I felt a stab of pain go through my elbow.

"God... Fuck... _Dammit_, Kayla...! What?" I yelled as I struggled against her grip, but ultimately failing to escape because of my arm. I hated that blonde sometimes.

"Katie," she whispered harshly into my ear. "Do you realize who you just bumped into?" I rolled my eyes and was about to retort when I realized that her hand was still covering my mouth. "_Popular person_!" she continued. I flinched her unnecessarily loud whispering.

I looked up and recognized the curly brown hair and blue eyes. The tall boy wore a smirk on his face as he watched us with an amused expression.

Travis Stoll. A boy in our year known for his pranks and jokes. One of the people at the top of the food chain. However, I didn't care for any social status crap right now. My crepe is gone and it's all this slimeball's fault.

I broke free from Kayla's grip and poked a finger into his chest, craning my neck just so I could glare properly at him (curse his height). "Listen up, you _jerk_," I growled. "You just cost me a perfectly delicious treat and I hope you intend to make up for it because if you don't, there will be _hell _to pay." I heard Kayla make a strangled sound behind me but I honestly couldn't care less.

Travis Stoll just smirked even more and I couldn't help but get irritated. "Well, listen here, flower—." I growled, cutting him off. "My name is _not _flower." He raised his eyebrows, a twinkle in his eyes. "Oh? Why don't you enlighten me then?" he said in a suggestive tone that made me inwardly shudder.

I scoffed. "Hah. Like I'm telling you." I crossed my arms across my chest. He smirked (again!) before doing something completely unexpected. He pulled me towards him, completely trapping me in his embrace. One arm was encircling my waist and the other was wrapped around my shoulders. Kayla's gasp could be heard somewhere behind me but I could hardly notice it as the boy holding me whispered in my ear.

"Is that so?" he said. "Well, I guess I'll have to get it out of you." He brushed his mouth lightly against the shell of my ear and I unwillingly shivered. "Huh," he said as if he just proved something.

I realized what was happening and quickly pushed him away. He stared at me with a slightly shocked expression before quickly gathering himself and wearing a smirk once more. I glared at him with as much malice I could muster. The nerve of this guy! "Travis Stoll, you will regret the day you were ever born."

Travis chuckled and perked an eyebrow. "Ah, well, isn't this kinda unfair? You seem to know my name, but I don't know yours." And then, as if he just noticed the blonde girl standing behind me, he grinned at her. "And your friend over there."

Kayla quickly moved forward and hooked her arm around mine. "Hi, I'm Kayla and this is Katie," she said with a charming smile. I looked at her with a disbelieving look but was ignored.

I heard Travis murmur something, but I couldn't make out what it was. He spoke louder. "Kayla... Kayla... Do I know you two from somewhere? You obviously know me." He furrowed his eyebrows as if deep in thought. Hah.

"We go to the same school as you. Goode," Kayla supplied and I decided to stay quiet. It seemed like anything I said would be ignored anyway.

"Oh!" Travis exclaimed and I almost snorted. "You're Will's brother, right?" he asked Kayla who seemed to brighten up considerably. "Yep!" she replied.

The tall boy smiled—not a smirk—a smile. Ugh. "So what are you girls up to?" he asked with a hint of flirtatiousness that made me want to hurl.

"Ah, well Katie and I were just getting some new clothes," she explained and I wanted more than anything to slap her pretty little face.

"Oh," Travis said, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked at me. "Shopping, huh?" I couldn't help but feel as if the question was directed solely towards me. I must've been right because Kayla elbowed me in the ribs.

"Yes," I hissed through gritted teeth.

The brunette let out a short laugh. "Didn't peg you as that type of girl, Katie Kat." _Because I'm not. And don't call me that!_ was what I wanted to say but was interrupted my someone calling out Travis' name. Said boy looked behind him before quickly looking back towards us with a small grin.

"Well, that's my cue," he said. "I was with some friends and I'm being called back now, as you can see." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "It was nice meeting you Kayla." He then faced me properly and grinned wider. "Katie Kat."

And with that, Travis Stoll walked off.

Hands tugged at mine and spun me around. When everything stopped turning, I stood face to face with my so called "best friend" who seemed to be trying to split her face into two with that smile. "It worked, Katie! It worked!" she squealed.

I glared at her. "Yes, but I lost my crepe and the feeling in my elbow," I argued. Again, I was ignored. "Travis Stoll talked to us!" she continued. "And he was totally in to you, Kates!"

I snorted. "Sure."

She looked at me with a wild expression. "Are you kidding me? He had his eyes on you since you bumped into him! Holy shit, he even hugged you!"

"To get my name! Which-might I add-you gave away without so much of a second of hesitation!" I retorted. Ignored.

"And Katie Kat!" she cried out almost dramatically. "Kates, if we keep this up, we could be popular in no time!"

I groaned as she started babbling off about new plans and stuff. Something about hair... I'm sorry, Kayla. I love you and all. But sometimes, I just want to gag you and push you off a cliff.

"—maybe you should try dating him. We'd totally get to the top!"

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" I nearly shouted, remembering that we were in a public place.

Kayla sighed. "You weren't listening to anything I was saying, were you?" I stuttered out a reply. "Kind of but not really...? I mean, I heard you speaking but it went in one ear and out the other..."

She sighed again before speaking. "I was saying that you could try asking Travis out to get to the top."

I looked at my friend incredulously. "Are you kidding me? Kayla! First off, Travis Stoll? I barely even know the guy except for the fact that he's a huge jerk! And dating someone just to become popular? I get that you want to be popular, Kayles—I do too—but isn't that a bit manipulative?" I wouldn't sink _that _low. Even if it was involved with someone as vile as Stoll.

She let out a breath and hit herself on the head lightly. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. It's just... Katie, junior year's almost over," she explained. "Next year's gonna be our last year of high school. And are we just gonna let everything end with us as a bunch of nobodies?"

I shrugged my right shoulder. "Hey, we still have a few months left as juniors. Don't get so worried about that kind of stuff," I said comfortingly, sensing a depressed vibe from my bestie. "In fact, shouldn't you be excited? I mean, we'll have our first prom this year! If you can't show off there, I don't know where you can."

I must've cheered her up a bit because she cracked a small smile. "We're gonna show off," she corrected. I mirrored her expression with a smile of my own.

"Yeah," I said softly before clearing my throat. "But no way in hell am I going to date Travis Stoll."

Kayla pouted. "Damn."

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><p><strong>Aaaannndd that's a wrap! For the first chapter... This was originally two chapters but I decided to put them into one chapter, yay.<strong>

**So, yeah! I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter! Hopefully, there will be more coming up soon. I'll be updating every weekend or so. Reviews are always welcome! Suggestions, requests, corrections, constructive criticism, flames... Pretty much anything (go easy on the flaming though)! Compliments would be nice too, haha...**

**Anyway, thanks for reading!**

**~ Kami ~**


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